In a distributed network like the Internet, different computers and computer networks may be virtually connected and accessible via various routes. When a computer or computer network is under attack, e.g., a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, responses to the attack must be made in order to maintain the network's accessibility to other networks and computers. The solution of typical systems is to always route malicious traffic through scrubbing centers that are designed to respond to an attack. As the scrubbing centers always receive the traffic, they can respond to an attack.
But such a solution has some undesirable properties. The scrubbing centers are very expensive. Thus, there is a lack of scrubbing centers throughout a network, due to the high cost. Having to route all traffic through too few of scrubbing centers would typically require routing through remote locations, introducing latency due to traversing data over long distances.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems, individually and collectively.